A general mouse is widely used at the out-station as an input apparatus for the relative coordinate, including an optical reflecting tool or plate, a light source, and a light receiving circuit installed therein.
A typical mouse includes a ball placed on its bottom, so that as the ball moves, the rotary optical encoders attached to the ball in the X and Y coordinate detects the relative position of the ball.
As shown in FIG. 1, two optical encoders 2 and 3 are mounted at the proper positions of both sides adjacent to a ball 1. The optical encoder is constituted as three parts. Concretely, each of two optical encoders 2 and 3 are provided with rollers 4 and 5 rotated in the X and Y axes in contact with the surface of the ball 1 according to the vertical or horizontal rotation of the ball 1 (it is noted in the drawing that the X and Y directions are different from the real ones of the balls if accurately positioned). The roller 4 has a shaft at its center, and the shaft is fixed at the center of a circular plate 6 having a plurality of holes around its periphery, so that the rotation of the roller 4 forces the circular plate 6 to be rotated.
The circular plate 6 includes paired photo-couplers 8 and 9 mounted on both side surfaces adjacent to holes perforated around its periphery. For example, the light emitting diode of the photo-coupler 8 is positioned on the front surface of the circular plate 6 and the photo-transistor on the rear surface.
In such a manner, the optical encoder 3 is also provided with a roller 5 having a shaft at its center, a circular plate 7 and paired photo-couplers 11 and 12.
Therefore, in the X and Y optical encoders 2 and 3 the circular plates 6 and 7 are rotated as the rollers 4 and 5 are rotated in contact with the ball 1. At this time, the photo-couplers 8, 9, 10 and 11 are operated in a manner that as the circular plates 6 and 7 are rotated, their light emitting diodes are turned on and their photo-transistors receive the light from the light emitting diode facing thereto, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the position displacements of the ball 1 are determined in the X and Y axes by the phase differences occurred as to whether the photo-transistors receive the light, or not during the lighting of the light emitting diodes.
Such mouse requires the high space occupation rate in mounting the optical encoders therein to restrain from its compact configuration. It has the limitations in accomplishing the high speed operation in the mechanical respect because of the sliding phenomena between, the ball and the rollers. It shortens the life due to the friction between the mechanisms and fears that the error during the operating often happens with being freely exposed to the dusts.
There is the other typical mouse of the optical pad detecting type as shown in FIG. 3 which includes a housing 20 and a mouse pad 21. The housing 20 is provided with an optical sensor 22 of the X axis for detecting its horizontal movement and an optical sensor 23 of the Y axis for detecting its vertical movement mounted on the bottom thereof. The optical sensors 22 and 23 each comprises a photo-coupler provided with a light emitting diode and a photo-transistor so that the light of the light emitting diode is received at the photo-transistor, reflecting on the optical pad 21.
The optical pad mouse also detects the phase displacement according to the signals received from each of the photo-transistors as shown in FIG. 2. It does not have two optical encoders of the X and Y axes in the ball mouse, but requires a separate optical pad to refrain from its compact. Also, the optical pad has an influence upon the life of the system and the mouse has a disadvantage that the error in operation may occur due to dust on the optical pad.
This mouse enables the relative position displacement to be easily appointed, but it is not possible to appoint the absolute position, accurately, as well as to have another function except for the function for detecting the position displacement.
In light of these points, it is very desirous if a mouse structure does not require an optical encoder and an optical pad to become the compact figuration, accomplishes the high speed and the high solution and detects not only the relative position but also the absolute position. In other words, the mouse structure enables the wide adaption, for example Palm tops, Sub-notebooks, Desktop and can be easily applied to the control of a game, an industrial mechanism and a workstation or a home appliance.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a compact mouse having an optical reflector of a golf-ball type capable of being miniaturized.
Another object of the invention is to provide a compact mouse structure having information of the position displacement and the operation control of an appliance in a matrix or image information form.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a compact mouse structure having a ball on the surface of which a position displacement and predetermined control information can be written.